As it is generally known, in computer-based communications, electronic mail (“e-mail”) is an example of contemporary asynchronous messaging systems. Messaging systems such as e-mail enable geographically dispersed users to exchange information over a communication network. Asynchronous messaging systems such as e-mail allow messages to be exchanged regardless of whether the message sender and recipient(s) are simultaneously on-line or logged in. E-mail messages are typically conveyed using what is referred to as a “store and forward” protocol, in which messages are initially transmitted from a sender's client computer system, and then stored on at least one server computer system, from which they are eventually retrieved for viewing on one or more recipients' client computer systems. E-mail messages are often exchanged using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), and users download messages from servers with standard protocols such as POP (Post Office Protocol) or IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol), or using proprietary protocols.
E-mail messages are typically stored in and represented to the user in what are generally referred to as message “mailboxes”. For example, a mailbox is used to store received e-mail messages in some existing systems, referred to as the user's “Inbox”.
A series of messages that have been posted as replies to each are often referred to as a message “thread”. By reading each message in a thread, a user can learn how a discussion conveyed by the thread evolved.
Users of existing e-mail systems often face the problem of having too many e-mail messages contained in their Inbox. This problem arises for several reasons. One reason is that messages in threads are often sent to an overly broad recipient list. Thread participants usually use a REPLY TO ALL function or the like when adding a message to the thread, causing their reply to be sent to all recipients of the previous message, without making an effort to selectively filter out unwanted and/or un-needed recipients. This kind of user behavior is mainly the result of current e-mail system user interface design, which doesn't adequately support recipient filtering in a convenient way. As a result, messages in threads are distributed to users who may no longer be interested in the discussion represented by the thread. Such uninterested users continue to be treated as recipients even though they will not participate in the discussion for the thread. For example, replies are often sent to users included in an original distribution list because they are members of a group indicated in the distribution list, even though those users have no interest in the specific topic of the thread.
Moreover, the subject of an e-mail thread often evolves and changes during the lifetime of the thread. Users that may have been initially interested in a thread may at some point lose interest after the subject of the thread changes. For example, a thread including messages at a more general level of discussion may become uninteresting to certain initially interested users after the thread goes down a more detailed, technical line of discussion. This may result in such general interest users losing interest in subsequent thread messages, and not participating further in the thread.
Existing systems have not effectively recognized or dealt with this problem. The user interface designs of existing e-mail systems do not conveniently assist users wishing to filter recipients for a message in a message thread. For example, if a user group is indicated in a recipient list, existing systems do not effectively allow a user to filter recipients from within the group. In addition, the problem may be compounded by the fact that users are often biased towards sending replies to a relatively large recipient set, out of fear that interested people might otherwise be left out.
Thus it would be desirable to have a new system for adding messages to message threads that enables a sending user to more effectively filter message recipients.